How Does Internet Security Work ?

A financial transaction on the internet can be routed through any number of systems throughout the world before its destination.  At any of these points, a sniffer can be checking the data for number sequences common to credit cards and expiry dates. If these numbers are extracted they could potentially be used by someone other than yourself.   It is therefore necessary to make sure that your data is protected during it's journey.

To protect your data a secure server is used.  The secure server works in conjunction with your browser.  When your send your order, the browser scrambles the data.  The data  passes through the internet and is unscrambled by the secure server. During the data's journey it will not be recognizable by any third party and as such is secure. 

A secure server uses a special protocol called https instead of the more familiar http. When in use the URL will be preceded by https:.  To support a secure socket layer (SSL), the sever must have a "certificate" signed by a company called Verisign.  The servers used by Flexisoft have this certificate.

This method of security is not just used for shopping carts but also used by financial institutions who now allow you to "Bank-on-line"

Browsers

Your browser must support SSL.  Either Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher OR Netscape Navigator® 4.0 or higher, support secure transactions.  To download the latest version of the either of these browsers select the icons below.